Financial Times 13,612 / Jason
Posted by Agentzero on February 8th, 2011
There were a number of extremely good clues in this puzzle, but also a few that seemed imprecise to me. The gems, I thought, were 13, 20 and 26 across.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | KNUCKLE SANDWICH KNUCKLES (joints) AND (with) WI[t]CH (heartless enchantress) |
| 9 | EARLY ON EAR (ability to appreciate) LYON (French city). I would have liked this clue even better if the word “developed” had been omitted; it’s not needed for the cryptic or surface sense |
| 10 | TEMPEST TEMP (agency worker) EST (“is,” French) |
| 11 | YEAST Y[ard] EAST (where the sun rises) |
| 12 | INTER ALIA INTER (bury) A LIA[r] (little fibber) |
| 13 | UNSPOILED *(SPUN) + OILED (drunk) |
| 15 | CLYDE dd |
| 16 | SCONE S[mall] + CONE (tapering figure) |
| 18 | GASTROPUB *(TOP GRUB’S A) Shouldn’t there be some kind of anagram indicator here? |
| 20 | ILL-GOTTEN *(LONG LET IT) This is a great clue, I think |
| 23 | RIGHT FRIGHT (terror) minus F (“female fleeing”) |
| 24 | TAKE TEN TAKE (draw) TEN (“score [i.e. twenty] is evenly split”) |
| 25 | ODDBALL O[ld] DD (designated driver) B[ore] ALL (everyone) |
| 26 | NON COMPOS MENTIS dd (“not fit to try” = legally incapable of standing trial). I thought “Latin crackers” was great |
| Down | |
| 1 | KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON dd |
| 2 | UPROARS UP (increases) R[ight] OARS (strokes) I don’t see that “increases” = “up”, as opposed to “ups” |
| 3 | KEYSTROKE KEY (most important) STROKE (shot) |
| 4 | ENNUI hidden in rottEN NUIsance |
| 5 | ATTITUDES dd. Again a question of number: surely “attitudes” = “manners”? |
| 6 | DEMUR DEMUR[e] (pretty much “shy and modest”) |
| 7 | IDEALLY I DEAL (trade in) L[ibert]Y |
| 8 | HOT WATER BOTTLES HOT WATER (trouble) BOTTLE (nerve) S (beginning to “shred”). “Steamy bed mates” is a wonderful definition |
| 14 | LIGHTEN UP dd Correct parsing is *(PLUG IN THE); thanks to Jon88 |
| 15 | CARTRIDGE CART (carry) RIDGE (saddle) |
| 17 | OILSKIN O[ld] + *(SILK) + IN |
| 19 | PAGEANT PAGE (a boy in training) ANT (a model of industriousness) |
| 21 | OUTDO dd An alfresco gathering could be an OUT DO OUTDOOR (alfresco) minus OR; thanks to Steve |
| 22 | NOOKS NO (American north; is this abbreviation peculiar to America?) OKS (gives thumbs up to) |
February 8th, 2011 at 8:38 am
Plain sailing today. Agree with issues at 2d, 5d and 22d….never heard of NO for north. Also struggled with 23a….why is the “in training” required, I was thrown by trying to make it as something in PE? Perhaps “a girl in training” would have worked better?
February 8th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Very enjoyable and quick to solve. I especially enjoyed all the ‘long’ clues round the edges.
February 8th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Thanks for the blog – like you some clever clues but a few which were shaky.
Sorry but can’t follow the breakdown for 5 down
February 8th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Thanks Agentzero – my parsing of 21d was OUTDO(OR) – ‘OR’ going with the definition being ‘to top’
February 8th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Enjoyable and not too hard. Loved 1a, 12a, 8d, 3d.
Ferret, I parsed “a boy in training” as a young lad in someone’s entourage. To train = to follow.
Thanks AG & RayT!
February 8th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Chill! Plug in the fire (7,2) LIGHTEN UP is a dd? So it’s just a coincidence that “plug in the” anagrams to the answer?!
Would be call the GASTROPUB clue a “semi-&lit.”?
February 8th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Or “Would we…”? Sigh.
February 8th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Hi all
Steve, your parsing of 21d is much better and undoubtedly what was intended.
Jon, “So it’s just a coincidence that ‘plug in the’ anagrams to the answer?!”
If by “coincidence” you mean “oversight by the blogger” then yes, absolutely.
February 8th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Apologies for the teasing. But like the GASTROPUB clue, where’s the anagram indicator? “Fire”?
February 8th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Jon,
The anagrind of 14d must be “fire,” which I can just about see.
February 8th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
I took the anagrind for 18A to be ‘must’ (in the sense of brewing/fermentation).
I also beg to differ with @5 Nestorius on 19D. Isn’t the ‘in training’ a reference to the medieval meaning of page (i.e. a knight’s apprentice)?
The ‘American’ clarification in 22D is reasonable and accurate to me. Seems to be a standard differentiatior between US and UK street-sign abbreviations, in my experience. And then there’s the differing origins of Soho, London and SoHo, NYC.
Clue of the day to 8D for me; tip-top.
February 8th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Annotations of 14d and 21d now amended.
And, Smiffy, SoHo has now been joined by NoHo and NoLIta, which directly support the setter’s use.
February 8th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Failed on 1a -had ?a?d?i?h but just couldn’t see sandwich
9a, 23a very clever -must remember this,2d, 3d & 19d -didn’t know that a page was a boy in training.
Well blogged sir.
February 8th, 2011 at 6:53 pm
@11 Smiffy: I stand corrected. WordNet has “in medieval times a youth acting as a knight’s attendant as the first stage in training for knighthood”. You are spot on.
February 9th, 2011 at 1:26 am
must, per Chambers
n a dangerous frenzy in some male animals, such as elephants.
adj in such a state.
Surely this is a valid anagram indicator for what I thought was a superb &lit clue